


With a little help from my friends

by lasersheith



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff, Humor, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, lance's bad pick up lines, pre-sheith, with thirsty keith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 16:28:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13685421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lasersheith/pseuds/lasersheith
Summary: A malfunction in the engine room has left the castle a sweltering nightmare. Hunk has deemed it time for a team underwear party, but Shiro's nervous about his scars. His friends help him feel a little better.





	With a little help from my friends

**Author's Note:**

  * For [chiapslock](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chiapslock/gifts).



> This one is kind of a silly/more gen fill for the prompt of Shiro being insecure about his scars. I originally tried to make this part of "Getting there" but I couldn't figure out how to put them together.

Even at the best of times, Lance rarely needed an excuse to take his shirt off. This was, decidedly, not the best of times. Something had gone wrong with the castle’s exhaust system and the entire thing was sweltering from all the trapped heat that was normally harmlessly vented into space. Keith looked at Lance laying on the floor in just his boxers; normally he’d throw something at him and make a snarky comment about being ready for battle at any time, but he had to admit, the floor was a lot cooler than the rest of the lounge. He pulled off his shirt without giving it any more thought and flopped down on his stomach several feet away. He sighed happily as the relatively cold floor hit his overheated skin. “Tooooold ya!” Lance said, flipping over to cool his back off as well. Keith didn’t have the energy for an argument, so he just grunted in response. 

The door opened with a quiet woosh and neither paladin looked up from his position on the floor. Footsteps approached on Keith’s right and he almost bothered looking up, before he heard Pidge let out a groan. “Ok you know what, this is no time for modesty. Just don’t look over here, ok?” Lance offered a thumbs up and threw an arm over his eyes. The most Keith was willing to do was shake his head a little so his sweaty hair fell into his face, slightly covering the eye he didn’t have mushed into the floor. He heard Pidge’s shirt fall and then saw her arms sprawled as she lay down next to him. It was a little weird, but she at least still had a sports bra on, and it really was too hot to be worried about much of anything. 

“Hey, aren’t you supposed to be working on the exhaust thing with Coran?” Lance said, flopping back onto his stomach. “Ugh, I tried to help but you know how he gets. Plus, he decided to take his shirt off while we were working and he’s like… David Hasselhoff levels of hairy. I couldn’t deal with it anymore.” Keith and Lance both made disgusted groans. They both decided they could have gone their whole lives not having that image in their minds. 

Hunk and Shiro walked in a few minutes later. They each had a few water bottles in hand and passed them out to their ailing compatriots. “I’m totally getting in on the team underwear party!” Hunk called out excitedly after downing most of his bottle of water. He stripped down and gently lowered himself to the ground near Lance. “Oooooh, Shiro, buddy, you have to get in on this action, it’s sooooo niiiiiice.” Hunk had gone full starfish and was sprawled out making as much floor to skin contact as possible. 

Keith’s brain short circuited a little at the thought of Shiro, in his boxers, laying on the floor, skin flushed from the heat, small smile on his face with the relief of the cool tiles. He cleared his throat and turned his head toward the black paladin. “I have to admit, even though I’m sure it looks really stupid, it does feel pretty good.” Shiro chuckled a little bit from where he’d chosen to sit on the couch. “Seconded!” Pidge called from her spot, having also turned over to cool off her back.

“Well I think I’ll go ahead and keep my clothes on, thanks. At least one of us should be ready to get to the lions in case the Galra attack while the castle isn’t at full strength. Plus, if it’s this hot with the engines idled, I would hate to be in here if Allura had to start making evasive maneuvers or power the particle barrier.” Shiro said, closing his eyes and leaning his head back. He had one of the bottles of water behind his neck and was holding one on his forehead. Keith frowned. No one was more serious about dealing with the Galra threat than Shiro (except maybe Allura) but it still seemed unnecessary. They were light years away from any known outposts or occupied planets. He should tell Shiro to lighten up and live a little (because he cared about Shiro’s well-being and knew he must have been sweltering in his armor, not because he was dying to see him sweaty, in his underwear, on the floor. Not at all. That would be creepy. Or at least rude.).

Just as he was about to say something to that effect, Lance reached over and tried to grab his water bottle. “Hey, get your own!” Keith grumbled, scuffling with him on the floor. “You’re not even drinking it!” Lance countered, trying to use his longer arms to wrench the bottle from Keith’s hands. Keith growled low in his throat, “I’m going to drink it eventually!” He wrapped his leg around Lance’s arm and tried to pull the bottle out, but it went sailing across the room instead. It hit the door frame just as Allura entered, splashing her legs. 

She glared at the Paladins and righted the bottle before tossing it back to Keith. He nodded his thanks before taking a sip. “Ugh, normally I'd scold you for not being ready for battle, but it's far too hot for scolding.” Shiro frowned at Lance as he openly stared at her. She pulled the hairtie from her ponytail and shook it out. It was a wonder Lance didn't combust on the spot. 

She was already dressed down as much as she was comfortable with in front of the Paladins, in a sleeveless cut-off shirt and shorts that reached her mid thigh. She pulled her soaking mane of hair into a bun at the top of her head. Shiro smiled at the sight as she flopped down onto her stomach on the floor with a groan next to Pidge. She looked up at him. “How are you not dying?” She muttered looking up at the couch. 

He sighed. “Yeah, it's way too hot for this.” Normally he considered himself above peer pressure, but seeing all of his friends slightly more comfortable on the floor, combined with the streaks of sweat collecting in awful places in his armor, he decided to push down his inner turmoil. He pulled his armor off bit by bit as the other Paladins stared. 

He reached for the hem of his undershirt and glanced up. 5 pairs of eyes were boring holes into him. He blushed and frowned. “Don't… don't make this weirder than it needs to be.” He grumbled out. Keith's soft gasp as he pulled the shirt off had his blush deepening. 

“Oh man, Shiro…” Hunk spoke up, his eyes misty. He knew his chest and back looked rough. The arena hadn't been kind to him and their medical treatment for prisoners was decidedly less than ideal. Rough and jagged scars littered his space-paled skin. He sighed. “That's why I didn't wanna do this…” he trailed off, swallowing hard. Pidge tossed him her water bottle. 

“Don't worry, we're gonna kick Zarkon's ass.” He took a drink as Lance spoke up. “Yeah! We'll show him who's boss for treating our friend like that!” Shiro's frown began to fade a little into a small smile. Allura's smile was tight-lipped but genuine. “We won't let your time in the arena be in vain, Shiro. We will stop them.” He nodded. He risked a glance over at Keith. 

His eyes were narrowed in sharp focus, roving over Shiro's abused skin. He looked much more angry than Shiro had seen him in years. He finally looked up at Shiro's face and blushed at the shocked look he found there. 

He turned his head away and patted the spot on the floor next to him. Shiro laid down on the blissfully cool tile and sighed. “Thanks, guys.” He murmured out quietly. 

Lance took the opportunity the lull in conversation provided. “So, princess, about those shorts…” He started. Allura groaned. “Choose your words very carefully, Paladin.” She threatened half-heartedly. It was too hot to put forth the effort of doing it properly. “Hey, I was just gonna ask how many pairs you had! I'm thinking they'd look great on the floor in my bunk.” He winked at her. Keith threw his empty bottle over Shiro's back and hit him in the head. 

“Ow! What the hell, mullet?!” He shrieked, rubbing his head. “Cut it out!” Shiro groaned from his spot on the floor. Two quiet calls of “sorry, Shiro,” answered him. 

 


End file.
